When cricket is played, it seems as if summer will never end. And when cricket is filmed, summer can last for ever.
- BFI
Cricket is a game which carries immense global interest, capturing audiences across the world. Whether it be for a Pakistan Vs. India test match, or to expose the ball tampering scandal of the year, TV broadcasters and sports cinematographers have been there to capture the action.
In conversation with Tom Killick...
Today I was lucky enough to interview creative director of TV & film production company, 3C International, Tom Killick. Tom has been a mentor and friend to me for the past 6 years, in which I've had some incredible opportunities to film with him. He arrived back in Jersey on Sunday following his time filming the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the Philippines for 3Ci Sport, the international sports media company branch of their corporation.
3Ci have been filming for the International Cricket Council since May 2016, when they first filmed a tournament in Jersey. Since then, Tom and the rest of the team have traveled around the world - the likes of Oman, Uganda, the US, Abu Dhabi, New Zealand, Thailand, and so on - to film incredible cricket matches.
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| Tom Killick filming a pre-game interview in the Philippines (Source: Instagram, 3ci_sport) |
Tom explained how they film using a base model of one camera, and one multi skilled operator (or video journalist). They then film the games, and produce pre-game interviews and highlights videos via a mobile edit suite used for rapid distribution through the ICC's social media platforms. Killick added that "clips can get between 200,000 to a million views within a couple of hours"!
Tom explained how "[they've] been around professional athletes for many years now, so know how to behave and know where to be or not to be", therefore they don't tend to have any real run ins with players or officials when filming matches fortunately. The main issues he's faced when filming the matches has been dealing with expensive professional equipment in dust, heat and moist conditions (but lucky for him, their cameras are study!). However in wet conditions, he assured me to have rain covers at the ready so that the cameras always stay dry: "worst case scenario you'll use your own rain jacket and you get wet instead of the camera" - although luckily when filming in the Philippines, he was in a little tent so he was sheltered from the elements.
It's always a problem, but we will always find a solution.
Live streaming has become a major asset of cricket coverage in recent years, however there is lots of restrictions put in place because of a large amount of corruption due to gambling. Tom explained how excitingly, the last 2 months has seen live streaming become completely acceptable in the lower league ICC matches which they cover: "that's going to be a part of our future..."
Nevertheless, like Dan Wickham explained to me last week in conversation about the Route Du Rhum, Tom and 3Ci also struggle with using 4G networks to broadcast sports coverage. Tom uses a local SIM card and a dongle when on location which when connected to the mobile network, should provide them with a strong enough signal. However, they "always have problems with [it] - there's never been a time where it's worked out fine", Tom says, "but it's always an issue we fix!"
All the gear and all the ideas...
Tom explained how having professional kit makes a real difference, and makes their jobs so much easier. They use gear "based on being able to rapidly deploy at a moment's notice. [They] extrapolate that into the sports world: if you've got your core equipment, it makes life easier". The example of such equipment which Tom showed me, is the GoPro Karma Grip, as he demonstrates in the video below...
Tom Killick talking through the GoPro Karma Grip
From catching up with Tom and chatting about his work in filming cricket, I've been able to see how far such a mainstream sport has developed alongside its broadcasting. Although the likes of technological filming developments such as 'Hawk Eye' have broken into Premier division cricket, they just aren't accessible to the lower divisions which 3Ci are covering. As Tom explained, they've got to make do with what they've got, but regardless he can still appreciate the immense technology and filming powers that are going into the top ranking matches.
Take the Australia Vs. South Africa test match which saw the Australian ball tampering scandal explode onto the news. With at least 16 cameras being pointed at those players at one time, Tom thought it was "beyond belief someone [thought] they could get away with something like that: a moment of madness".
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| Cameron Bancroft tampering with the ball in the Australia Vs. South Africa match (Source: SuperSport) |
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